Agriculture Secretary to Review Shirley Sherrod Resignation

After a video seemingly showing the Agriculture Department official making racist remarks made the rounds online, Shirley Sherrod said she was pressured to resign. Now that the video’s context has surfaced, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he will review her case.

Sherrod, who is is African American, is shown in the clip saying in 1986, she did not offer her “full force” of help to a white farmer. However, she told CNN that the clip was part of a story she told, demonstrating how her views of race changed. She was working for a nonprofit at the time, not the USDA.

At first, Sherrod received harsh criticism from the NAACP, but the organization apologized and retracted its remarks, saying it was “snookered” by FOX News and conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who originally posted the video. Breitbart told CNN the intention was not to make Sherrod resign, but to highlight racism in the NAACP, after said organization called the Tea Party racist.

Sherrod claims the Obama administration put her under intense pressure to resign, but Vilsack says it was his decision and the White House denies any involvement.

And the farmer in question? Roger Spooner doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. “They just want to stir up some trouble, it sounds to me in my opinion,” he told CNN. Watch Sherrod’s full speech below.